With 19 days left in the session, NY state lawmakers’ agendas are crammed

As legislators returned to the state Capitol on Monday, they had just 19 session days to settle outstanding policy items not already addressed in the budget. 

In their first week back from spring break, lawmakers will begin working their way through hundreds of bills before the June 2 end of the legislative session – and before they start campaigning in earnest for the June 28 primaries. Committee agendas are packed with legislation for lawmakers to consider. In the state Senate, 26 committees were scheduled to meet on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – the three days legislators will be in Albany this week. On the Assembly side, 28 committees were scheduled to meet over the course of just two of those days. 

The Clean Slate Act is a notable addition to the agenda for the state Senate Codes Committee. The bill has been pushed by criminal justice reform advocates as it would seal the records of many New Yorkers convicted of a crime after a certain amount of time. On Monday, the Codes Committee advanced to the Finance Committee, a crucial milestone before the full chamber can weigh in on the contentious legislation. “By advancing this bill, the Senate took a huge step toward safer, stronger and more stable communities and helping over two million New Yorkers support themselves and their families,” bill sponsor state Sen. Zellnor Myrie said in a statement. The bill fell out of the budget, and early action in the post-budget period indicates that the upper chamber may be prepared to act on the bill quickly. 

The same can’t be said on the Assembly side, where its Codes Committee did not include the Clean Slate Act on the agenda for this week. While it’s far too early to predict what the lower chamber will do in the waning days of the session, the legislation stalled in the Assembly last year as lawmakers scrambled to finalize a deal before they broke for the summer. Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, the sponsor of the Clean Slate in her chamber, did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Lawmakers won’t address other big ticket items this week, like the “good cause” eviction bill that would make it harder for landlords to evict tenants, mayoral control of New York City schools and the fate of the 421-a tax break for developers to build affordable housing. Gov. Kathy Hochul had originally included the latter two in her budget proposal before they fell out during negotiations. On the issue of good cause, state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris suggested last month that it and the developer tax break could potentially get wrapped together in some sort of deal. 

Meanwhile, activists have returned to the Capitol pushing for a plethora of bills they hope to become law this year. On Tuesday, formerly incarcerated people and advocates for criminal justice reform will rally in favor of a slate of legislation that would eliminate mandatory minimums, permit certain people in prison the ability to request a revisitation of their sentence and offer more ways for people to earn early release. On Monday activists rallied in favor of several parole reform bills as well. Both sets of issues had campaigns that began at the beginning of the year, but have largely fallen onto the back burner as the governor and lawmakers hashed out the budget.

Still, lawmakers will consider many bipartisan bills in their first week back from their break. The nonpartisan environmental advocacy group Environmental Advocates New York praised the state Legislature for the number of climate and environmental protections bills on committee agendas in both chambers, calling it “an Earth Day bonanza” in a newsletter. The group highlighted 14 pieces of legislation lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly will act on this week, including bills to address controversial cryptocurrency mining and to require zero-emission trains by 2035. Other bills that may not appear in both chambers this week still have support from both parties, like legislation to rename the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge back to the Tappan Zee.